CEBL Autopsy Report: Scarborough Shooting Stars

After winning it all in 2023, what went wrong in Scarborough?

Record: 12-9 (3^rd)                      Team MVP: Cat Barber

Cause of Death: Spontaneous Combustion

The Shooting Stars came into the season with perhaps the highest expectations any CEBL team has had to face to start off a new year. Not only were they the reigning champs, but bring under the ownership of OVO means deep pockets and always being under the scrutinous eye of the public.

The headline of the Shooting Stars summer was using those deep pockets to lure Kadre Gray and Jackson Rowe away from the Ottawa Blackjacks and back to their hometown(ish). They also brought back their 2023 leading scorer in Cat Barber, as well as defensive stalwart Kalif Young and former viral phenom Kyree Walker. New additions included big names like Donovan Williams, Tevian Jones and Devoe Joseph, the older brother of NBA veteran and longtime Canadian National Team member, Cory Joseph.

Perhaps the biggest move for the Shooting Stars was behind the bench, which saw Devan Blair take over for Chris Exilus, who moved into a management role. Exilus and his no-nonsense demeanor had become the posterchild for the team as a whole, who are notorious for keeping their dealings close to the chest.

The team got off to a slow start as they awaited key players like Barber and Young to finish their overseas seasons, dropping their first two games to the Winnipeg Sea Bears and Vancouver Bandits. While they would rebound with a 4-game winning streak, the combination of a new head coach and roster turnover led to a number of players moving around the depth chart game-to-game and some disjointed efforts even in victories. Most notably, Walker lost his starting job to Jones and – whether he wasn’t happy coming off the bench or the team was unwilling to pay big money for a rotation guy – left the team after appearing in just 3 games. Gray was another player who would sometimes start and put up a double-double, only to be relegated to bench minutes in the next outing.

As the season progressed and Blair became more accustomed to his roster, the team’s performance improved – despite the loss of key players like Rowe and Jones to the NBA Summer League. Barber and Williams would eventually join the team and finish 4^th (19.9 PPG) and 9^th (17.8 PPG) in league scoring, respectively, among players who qualify.  Gray would average 5.3 assists per game, good for 9^th in the league, despite coming off the bench for the second half of the season.

Gray’s demotion was an interesting one in that it was the second straight year that Scarborough brought in a second starting point guard (Gray was the Canadian Player of the Year last season and named to the All-CEBL Second Team) to pair with Barber in the backcourt, only to not fully commit to the lineup – the team had Jalen Harris last year, who left the team early for personal reasons.

The Shooting Stars closed out the season on a 6-2 run to finish with a 12-8 record overall, good for second in the conference. However, thanks to Montreal getting the coveted double-bye to championship weekend despite being the worst team in the league, Scarborough was forced to host the BlackJacks in round one. Ottawa was on a bit of a heater themselves, going 5-2 down the stretch, but were still a sub-500 team. Scarborough dominated early, but a complete collapse in the second half led to their demise, as they were outscored 55-30 and ultimately faced a 90-73 defeat.

The saying about being the victim of ones success hold true in sports, and that was ultimately the case for the Shooting Stars this season. Key Canadians Isiaha Mike, Kassius Robertson and Thomas Kennedy all played big roles in the 2023 championship run, but those performances also played a role in all of them getting big money contracts overseas and being unable to participate in the CEBL this season. Having the deep pockets to bring in high-level talent helps, but bringing in players who get those kinds of opportunities overseas makes it hard to build any kind of continuity. The team tried to bring in players with familiarity, but with Rowe leaving early and Gray moved to the bench, those moves never really paid dividends.

Much like the Winnipeg Sea Bears, I have no doubt the Shooting Stars will bounce back from this. As has been said ad nauseum, they have owners with deep pockets who are willing to spend. The one thing I will note for the team, however, is that they continue to play in the smallest arena in the league. They announced plans last year to begin construction on an arena of their own, but by all accounts, nothing has started yet. Obviously, I don’t know anything about the construction industry or what rules and laws are in place vis-à-vis the amount of time after declaring a construction project that you can actually start building. But it’s something to keep an eye on, as their current home makes it literally impossible for them not to operate at a loss.

A number of young players like Jaden Campbell and Hason Ward started their professional/FIBA careers with the Shooting Stars this summer, and the team would be wise to bring those players back to begin the creation of a team core. While those players are rotational (for now), having continuity year to year goes a long way in building team success and gives the fanbase favourites to cheer for each summer.